Since the race I have run into a half a dozen or so strangers who remember me and Bessie. That is quite amazing to me. Only one of these people actually saw Bessie in the water. This tells me that the sculpture was the thing.

This made me decide to pursue Bessie II.

Bessie II will be a much larger and more refined version of the original. The key difference will be that Bessie II will be interactive. By that I mean Kids and people can explore the interior. Allowing people to get inside changes a lot of the design. It implies a level of permanence, it will have to be much larger, it will have to be as interesting inside as out.

Because of the increased size Bessie II cannot be operated by one person. As my design sits right now it requires a crew of 2-4 inside and rider outside. The rider/helmsman will sit just behind the neck, steer, raise and lower the head and signal submersion/rise with the cow bell. The fore crew of 1-2 will row the flippers and control the air pumps. The aft crew 1-2 will pedal the propellers or possibly the wheels on land.

The interior will be formed by a plastic erector set like grid and contain lots of unnecessarily large wheels, gears and cylinders in a plastic steampunky way.

As before the exterior sculpture will be clearly made from milk jugs. However the scales will be a touch more consistent and refined, as will the tail and spine.

This is going to be a long project. But most of it will be repetitive and mainly just time consuming. So expect long breaks between updates.

BTW I have already built my jug cutter and have started assembling scales.

I didn't want anyone to think I'd forgotten about Bessie. So a quick update.

Bessie was about 250 Milk Jugs, it looks like Bessie II may end up being 10 times bigger. This is mainly because I want to make it so kids can climb all through it.

Bessie is going to require a lot of plastic working and stuff to do it. I has already started to build some and am working on some more. I am currently getting together the stuff I need to build an injector and am experimenting with alternative mold making material.

Using some of the stuff I figured out with my paint drip for the WallBot I've put together some rough valves for my more extensive aire control system in Bessie II.

As usual I will start this project with very big eyes and scale back as time pressure occurs. This year however with a central meeting place the possibility of some assistance will perhaps allow for a more complete realization of my vision.

I plan to start by constructing some support equipment. I'd really like to build an extruder and a vacuum former to start with.

So to start this years project I'm opening up the floor for suggestions.

The first 50 jugs have made it to the shop and into the beginnings of Bessie. Since most of you did not see Bessie last year, I will have the rough layout structure assembled for Wed's Meeting. While I'm still working on getting better at using the material and building tools to support that, time is as always becoming a concern. So I have gone ahead and started construction.

Construction priorities are:1. the sculpture2. the float pods3. the propulsion and steering.with that complete I have a working boat4. wheels for moving on land5. pumps and plumbing 6. neck articulation 7. converting the air exhaust and water intake into a water/air jet to aid propulsion.8. wings ( to add a sailing dimension)

People ask me what they can do to help. Well first PLASTIC MILK CARTONS. While every coffee shop uses lots of milk and are good sources of containers, the time I take collecting them cuts into my build time. So if you think of it bring a container or ten whenever you come to the factory. Crew. Having a commitment from some people for the race date will help with limiting or expanding the scope of the project.Plastic milk cartons.Assuming a stock of cartons, the next most helpful process at this time is washing and cutting them into the building components. Three or so junked bicycles would help also.Anyone who wants to think about the air pumping system is strongly encouraged to do so. Just remember part of the design is to allow kids of all ages to get inside so make the system as gaudy as possible.Everything else will have to wait until the size and scope become more in focus. At this point I can still scale up or down.

When you come to the factory you can now see Bessie beginning to take shape. Nick has the head structure roughed in (looks fantastic) and we will be working on refining the skin for it Weds.

The back end of the sculpture is also well along so you can now see the basic idea and glimpse the scale of the project.

I expect to have the front part roughed in next. The front is the most complex structurally as it has to support the jockey and the head/neck. It also contains the articulation support for the head and neck structure.

The first question people ask me is usually where do I get the milk cartons. Coffee shops! I grab a garbage bag find a coffee shop and ask if I can pull the milk jugs from their recycling. Of course they let me because it reduces the space and saves them money (if they are smart). So I grab enough cartons to fill the bag. Next I rinse out each carton so to reduce the level of grossness. Early on I cut up every carton as I get closer to finishing the sculpture I start reserving the best jugs fro flotation. Cutting the jug with a scissor is simple enough. I'm look for the top (tail section), The handle (spine), Bottom (neck and some support) and the sides (main scales). The problem is that each action takes time. It probably takes about an hour to do 15 (avg per coffee shop) with maybe 3000 jugs needed I just don't have 200 hours.